Lebanon

Overview

Lebanon Overview

Summary:

The Peacebuilding Fund financed activities in Lebanon from 2012 to 2014 to help address tensions within Lebanon. Activities focused on training for Palestinian youth, timed to take advantage of new legislation allowing employment, and conflict prevention work in selected “hot spot” urban centres. The activities are now completed (further detail below).

The overall decision to engage in Lebanon was discussed by the PBF Advisory Group of the Secretary-General during its meeting in March 2010, and was requested by the Government in 2011. Since then, there have been several changes in Government and the outbreak of war in Syria which has significantly changed the environment in which PBSO initially engaged. While there have been some discussions to see if the Fund could assist the Lebanese in managing tensions that are under strain by Syrian refugees and the war, for the time being PBSO has no plans to undertake further activities. With its own resources becoming scarcer, it is unclear how a small stand-alone grant could have sufficient impact.

Total funding support in US$: 3 million

Addressing Urban hot-spots ($1m; UNDP and UN Habitat)

Empowerment of Youth at Risk through Job Creation Programme in Areas of Tensions ($2m; UNICEF, ILO and UNRWA)

Focus of PBF support:

On 12 September 2010, the UN Secretary-General declared Lebanon eligible to receive assistance from the Peacebuilding Fund. Following a workshop in Lebanon in late September 2010 to discuss how the Fund could finance UN assistance to peacebuilding in Lebanon. Subsequently, the Fund approved two Immediate Response Facility project proposals, respectively to;

i) to enhance the employment prospects of Palestinian youth who are vulnerable to political mobilization or extremism, in the context of more favourable labour legislation, and offer them more stable prospects for the future (UNRWA);

Between 2012 and 2014, PBF supported a joint programme (UNDP, UN-Habitat) focused on mapping stakeholders and building capacities of communities and Government structures to manage conflict in urban hotspots. The latter included the provision of support to the Lebanese Armed Forces to improve their community outreach capacity and focused on supporting the civil-military co-operation. The project aimed to reduce and mitigate inter and intra communal tensions in selected urban areas in Beirut and Saida with potential for conflict. It aimed to respond to existing conflict dynamics reflecting both tensions between Lebanese groups as well as between Lebanese and Palestinian informal gatherings and adjacent areas, while focusing on the Civil-Military coordination (CIMIC). A conflict mapping was undertaken in both cities, and a joint United Nations task force has been set up, and is implemented by UNDP, OHCHR and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, to assist the Lebanese Armed Forces implement civil-military and human rights components of its five-year Capabilities Development Plan and has been endorsed by the Council of Ministers and the president of the Republic and is now also part of the “Lebanon Rodamap of priority Interventions for Stabilization from the Syrian Conflict.”

The PBF also supported a project focusing on Palestinian youth, capitalizing on legislative changes that allow Palestinians to work. The Peacebuilding Fund supported a $2 million joint programme (ILO, UNICEF, UNRWA) to improve the employability of at-risk Palestinian youth. The programme reached more than 1,000 youth in northern and southern refugee camps, helping to stabilize their daily environment. The UNRWA project focusing on youth training and skills had an impact higher than anticipated both in terms of the number of beneficiaries and catalytic effect. A subsequent survey showed that over 80 percent of the participants were either employed or pursuing further education at the university level. The project timely managed to successfully fundraise additional €5 million for future activities and as such was perceived to be timely, quick, and catalytic.